Photos + Review: Seether at the House of Blues (San Diego, CA)

Seether is nearing the end of their fall tour with Saint Asonia and made a stop at the San Diego House of Blues with support from opening band Shaman’s Harvest.

Shaman’s Harvest was “country as fuck,” as one of the shirts hanging by their merch table read. I had never heard of this band before but many people in the audience seemed familiar with their music and showed their excitement through screams and fist pumps.

Saint Asonia made a high energy entrance; stomping around the stage as the crowd got riled up. Adam Gontier, former Three Days Grace vocalist and guitarist, made sure to bring his heart and soul to his new project. They started their set with “Better Place,” the first single they released in May of this year. The crowd was rocking out to their new songs, but everyone absolutely lost it when they played “Animal I Have Become” and “I Hate Everything About You” by Three Days Grace. I’m not sure that these can exactly be called covers since they were performed by the original singer, but they were definitely a pleasant surprise. They covered two other songs: “Mudshovel” and “For You” originally by Staind, who are currently on hiatus, leading their guitarist Mike Mushok to join the creation of this supergroup also consisting of Rich Beddoe, former drummer of Finger Eleven, and bassist Corey Lowery. If you’re a hard rock fan, you don’t want to miss this act. Their interaction with the audience and constant movement on the stage on top of their clearly apparent musical talent make them ones to watch.

The stage was then set up with microphone stands bearing red fairy lights, one of them with creepy little dolls and another with some kind of animal skull. Seether came out with “My Disaster” and rapidly flashing lights that might have left me temporarily blind for a few seconds. They weren’t quite as energetic as Saint Asonia, but they engaged the audience nonetheless. Vocalist Shaun Morgan spent the majority of the show singing through his hair, but I would probably do the same with such blinding lights on stage. The setlist consisted of songs from their new album “Isolate and Medicate” as well as old crowd favorites including “Fake It,” “Remedy,” “Broken,” and a great cover of Nirvana’s “Lithium.” I had been looking forward to watching Seether play again after my first time seeing them back in 2008, which was one of my first concerts, and I can firmly say that I was not disappointed. It definitely lived up to the hype set by 12-year-old me.